CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio — It’s official. Willie Nelson can stop bad weather.
OK, maybe that’s a bit of an overstatement. Physically impossible, you say?
I’m going to need more convincing than that, because what I saw Friday night was bad weather that let up shortly before Nelson started playing and resumed about 10 minutes after he finished.
Playing at Blossom Music Center as part of his Outlaw Music Festival, the 90-year-old music legend fit in more than an hour of classics performed in a way only he can deliver, complete with jazzy, behind-the-beat phrasing and stinging solos played on his signature but beat-up classical guitar Trigger.
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Nelson and his Family Band blew through more than 20 songs from his vast catalog that spanned multiple genres, including folk, jazz, blues, gospel and yes, country.
Still the crowd should be grateful the show happened at all, given the 90-minute delay due to lightning during previous performer John Fogerty’s set. The threat loomed over the rest of the night, with many hoping that Nelson could get through the entire show before the storms returned.
Thankfully that was the case, and Nelson treated the crowd to well-worn but never rote versions of classics “Always on My Mind,” “Bloody Mary Morning” and the singalong “On the Road Again.” There were nods to his many sides, including the profane (“Write Your Own Songs”), the humorous (“Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys”) and the religious (“Will the Circle Be Unbroken” and “I’ll Fly Away”)
There was something comforting about his performance. It felt like a trip down memory lane, even if you’ve never been there before.
It took on the feel of a basement jam session to which we all happened to be invited.
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And maybe there’s a reason for that. Friday’s show came from the same template he has used for his shows for at least two decades, right down to opening with “Whiskey River” and having a huge American flag unfurl behind him right as the song’s first notes ring out. He even has many of the same players in his band, including harmonica player Mickey Raphael.
But Nelson, who now sits when he performs, didn’t appear to be going through the motions. Instead, he seemed to feed off the crowd and use experiences from his long life as fuel.
He has plenty with which to work, including mortality. Some of his closest collaborators, including his piano-playing sister Bobbie Nelson, have passed on.
Having his son Micah Nelson, who performs under the moniker Particle Kid, also livened up the performance. Micah provided a steady rhythm guitar that freed up his father to wander a bit with his own playing. He also took the lead on several songs, with the most memorable being the original “Die When I’m High (Halfway to Heaven).”
The show concluded with a cover of Mac Davis’ “Hard to Be Humble,” featuring the memorable couplet “Oh Lord, it’s hard to be humble when you’re perfect in every way.” Even though the line was delivered in jest, the show came pretty darn close to living up to it.
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Fogerty, who preceded Nelson onstage, is in the midst of a protracted celebration of gaining back control of the publishing rights to the music he made with his former band Creedence Clearwater Revival.
”I just got my songs back and I’m very happy about that,” Fogerty told the crowd early in his set. “And I’m going to play all of them.”
He seemed to want to do just that, but Mother Nature was intent on thwarting his plans. Fogerty cut short solo track “Rock and Roll Girls” after a stagehand informed him of lightning in the distance. Perhaps he had tempted fate by playing “Who’ll Stop the Rain” just a couple of songs prior?
When he returned to finish his truncated set, he did the only logical thing: led the crowd in a singalong of Creedence’s “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?”
From there the flannel-clad rocker, still spry at 78 years old, played like someone had lit a rocket underneath him. He and his band ripped through seven additional songs, with Fogerty furiously peeling off one iconic lick and solo after another. He even scoffed at his stormy misfortune by playing “Bad Moon Rising,” which contains the line “looks like we’re in for nasty weather.”
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He was right, but luckily it waited until after the concert.
Willie Nelson’s setlist:
1. Whiskey River
2. Stay a Little Longer
3. Still Is Still Moving to Me
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4. Bloody Mary Morning
5. I Never Cared for You
6. Die When I’m High (Halfway to Heaven) (Particle Kid on lead vocals)
7. Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys
8. Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground
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9. On the Road Again
10. Always on My Mind
11. Everything Is Bulls–t (Particle Kid on lead vocals)
12. Good Hearted Woman
13. Georgia (On My Mind)
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14. I Been to Georgia on a Fast Train
15. Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die
16. Write Your Own Songs
17. Move It on Over
18. We Don’t Run
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19. I Thought About You, Lord (Particle Kid on lead vocals)
20. Will the Circle Be Unbroken? (with Myron Elkins and Flatland Cavalry)
21. I’ll Fly Away
22. It’s Hard to Be Humble (with Myron Elkins and Flatland Cavalry)
John Fogerty’s setlist
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1. Up Around the Bend
2. Green River
3. Born on the Bayou
4. Who’ll Stop the Rain
5. Lookin’ Out My Back Door
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6. Rock and Roll Girls (Partial song, interrupted because of lightning)
7. Have You Ever Seen the Rain?
8. Centerfield
9. Down on the Corner
10. The Old Man Down the Road
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11. Fortunate Son
12. Travelin’ Band
13. Bad Moon Rising
14. Proud Mary
Eric Heisig is a freelance writer in Cleveland. He can be reached at eheisig@gmail.com.
WWE SummerSlam 2024 from Cleveland, Ohio advertised six championship matches. Among them was Solo Sikoa challenging Cody Rhodes for the WWE Undisputed Championship, LA Knight challenging Logan Paul for the WWE United States Championship, Sami Zayn defending the WWE Intercontinental Championship against Bron Breakker and GUNTHER challenging Damian Priest for the WWE World Championship.
This week’s broadcast of WWE Raw garnered 1.412 million viewers on SyFy after being preempted by the Olympics.
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WWE SummerSlam Results | August 3, 2024
Liv Morgan def. Rhea Ripley | WWE Women’s World Championship
Bron Breakker def. Sami Zayn | WWE Intercontinental Championship
LA Knight def. Logan Paul | WWE United States Championship
Nia Jax def. Bayley | WWE Women’s Championship
Drew McIntyre def. CM Punk
GUNTHER def. Damian Priest | WWE World Heavyweight Championship
Cody Rhodes def. Solo Sikoa | WWE Undisputed Championship
WWE SummerSlam 2024 Ticket Sales
WWE SummerSlam 2024 Venue: Cleveland Browns Stadium (Cleveland, OH)
WWE SummerSlam 2024 Tickets Distributed: 55,858
WWE SummerSlam 2024 Tickets Available: 807
WWE Money In The Bank 2024 Winners And Grades
Liv Morgan Def. Rhea Ripley
Despite all the talk of The Judgment Day competing by themselves, Dominik Mysterio accompanied Rhea Ripley to the ring.
Michael Cole noted the last time Rhea Ripley lost a singles match was 26 months ago. To Liv Morgan.
This match started as a cat-and-mouse as Liv ran away from Ripley. Fans became frustrated and booed Liv loudly.
Rhea dominated this match until Liv Morgan dodged a charging Ripley and followed up by throwing her, shoulder-first, into the turnbuckle. Ripley could be heard (kayfabe) saying “it’s out, it’s out!”
Fans were split as they made dueling chants of “let’s go Rhea/let’s go Liv!”
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Liv Morgan (kayfabe) popped her shoulder back into place by running herself into the announce table and fans went crazy.
Ripley hit the riptide, but did not pin Morgan. Instead, she grabbed a steel chair that Morgan brought into the ring. Mysterio grabbed the chair from her, which was the wise decision because she would have gotten herself disqualified. This led to an Oblivion for a nearfall and “holy s—t” chants.
Dom distracted the ref, leading to an Oblivion on the steel chair for the win. After the match, Dominik Mysterio kissed Liv Morgan and they left together.
Backstage, Damian Priest was furious with Dominik Mysterio for his actions. Finn and the rest of the Judgment Day vowed to go find him. I don’t trust them.
Rhea Ripley vs. Liv Morgan Grade: A-
Bron Breakker Def. Sami Zayn
Bron Breakker hit his always impressive Breakkensteiner early on, then he proceeded to scream “quit!” at Sami Zayn.
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Bron Breakker cut Sami Zayn off with a Spear, then he hit ayn with another Spear for the win. This wasn’t necessarily a squash match, but it was definitely a dominant win for Breakker.
Bron Breakker vs. Sami Zayn Grade: B
LA Knight Def. Logan Paul
Logan Paul wore a Cleveland-inspired American Flag vest and greeted two security guards on his way to the ring. One of hte security guards turned out to be Cleveland’s own MGK.
LA Knight shattered the glass on Logan Paul’s Prime vehicle before making his way to the ring.
Paul cleared the table, but LA Knight got the better of him with a modified TKO, though the table didn’t break.
Paul won these people over with a springboard moonsault on LA Knight. Though they cheered the spot, they eventually came to their senses and chanted “you still suck!”
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After jumping up on the top rope, LA Knight hit a scary looking superplex. Fans chanted “this is awesome” after a nearfall.
Logan Paul borrowed brass knuckles from MGK. After a shot to LA Knight, Knight countered with a BFT.
Logan Paul vs. LA Knight Grade: A-
Nia Jax Def. Bayley
Bayley relentlessly knocked Nia Jax off her feet early in the match.
Nia Jax took control of the match, to the point where she hit the Annihilator, but Bayley kicked out.
Jax called herself “reckless” and “clumsy” while trash-talking Bayley on offense.
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Bayley hit an awesome power bomb on Nia Jax from the top rope. The fans were fervently into a match that struggled to follow Logan Paul vs. LA Knight.
A Tiffany Stratton cash-in was thwarted by Bayley, but the distraction led to two power bombs and two Annihilators for the win.
Nia Jax vs. Bayley Grade: A-
Drew McIntyre Def. CM Punk
Seth Rollins walked out in a long cloak, and what was under the jacket was certain to be even wilder.
WWE used ref cameras on the referee’s ear, and there were never more ref cam shots than during Seth Rollins’ entrance.
Rollins’ referee outfit were baggy, bedazzled pants and a cutoff shirt similar to Shawn Michaels.
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Fans chanted “CM Punk” to start the match as punk donned pink gear in homage to Bret Hart.
Rollins did a great job working the fans into a frenzy before ringing the bell. When the bell rang, Punk and McIntyre brawled like crazy.
Instead of counting to 10 while Punk and McIntyre were outside of the ring, Rollins instead chose to tie his shoes. Rollins also took immense pleasure in seeing Punk and Rollins beat the hell out of one another.
During an Anaconda Vice on McIntyre, Punk secured his friendship bracelet and the entire stadium celebrated.
Punk stopped his GTS on McIntyre dead in its tracks and confronted Rollins about wearing his bracelet, which Rollins picked up off the ground did wear, but out of no malice.
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After a ref bump and a nearfall (followed by a second visual pinfall), Punk and Rollins got into a heated argument. Punk hit a Go To Sleep on Rollins and took his bracelet back, but it cost him the match.
Drew McIntyre vs. CM Punk Grade: B+
GUNTHER Def. Damian Priest
Finn Balor wished Damian Priest luck before the match. Famous last words.
GUNTHER already had chop marks on his chest before the match even started.
GUNTHER and Priest chopped the hell out of one another to the point where GUNTHER was bleeding from the chest.
Finn Balor hit the ring, presumably to save Priest, but he ended up costing Priest the WWE World Heavyweight Championship by putting GUNTHER’s leg on the bottom rope.
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After this match, Jelly Roll, The Miz and R-Truth took out A-Town Down Under.
GUNTHER vs. Damian Priest Grade: B+
Cody Rhodes Def. Solo Sikoa
Cody Rhodes ran into Arn Anderson backstage, and Anderson said he called in a few favors to a few allies of Cody Rhodes. Some of whom he knows, some he doesn’t.
For a full recap of Cody vs. Solo Sikoa in Bloodline Rules, click here.
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“The Biggest Party of the Summer” goes down tonight.
WWE SummerSlam 2024 takes place this evening, live from Cleveland Browns Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio.
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Scheduled for tonight’s premium live event is Cody Rhodes vs. Solo Sikoa in a Bloodline Rules match for the WWE Universal Championship, Damian Priest vs. GUNTHER for the WWE World Championship, as well as CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre with Seth “Freakin’” Rollins as the special guest referee.
Additionally, the show this evening will feature Liv Morgan vs. Rhea Ripley for the WWE Women’s World Championship, Bayley vs. Nia Jax for the WWE Women’s Championship, Sami Zayn vs. Bron Breakker for the WWE Intercontinental Championship, as well as Logan Paul vs. LA Knight for the WWE United States Championship.
Join us here tonight for live WWE SummerSlam 2024 results.
